3.12.2009

FAT, DEPRESSED, VIOLENT AND UNEMPLOYED IS NO WAY TO GO THROUGH LIFE, SON

How do you kick America when it’s down? Create the “Misery Measure Index” and find the most miserable cities you could possibly live in. That’s just what Forbes magazine has done by adding crime, unemployment, inflation and tax rates to other misery makers such as commute times, bad weather and proximity to toxic waste dumps in order to create the inaugural list of America's Most Miserable Cities. Not surpisingly, Detroit leads the list thanks to soaring violent crime and unemployment numbers. Stockton, California is second and Flint, Michigan third for the same reasons. America’s two biggest cities also made the list with New York at fifth spot due to the longest commute times in the country coupled with the highest tax rates, while Los Angeles grabbed sixth spot thanks to terrible commutes, horrible air quality, high tax rates and toxic waste dumps just outside its city limits. Meanwhile, over at ABC News they’ve compiled similar lists and declared that Portland is home to America’s unhappiest people and Miami has the country’s fattest citizens.